


Bastard

by el_veleno



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: M/M, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-18
Updated: 2019-05-01
Packaged: 2019-08-25 17:05:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16664773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/el_veleno/pseuds/el_veleno
Summary: After losing his partner on a mission, Locus searches for years with no luck. Just when he thinks there's no hope, he finds a clue that could tell him if his partner is alive and what Felix has really been up to all these years.





	1. LOCUS

**Author's Note:**

> (PRE CHORUS)

There wasn’t much to find. Yet, Locus still traveled to the planet where the ship was said to be found. He hadn’t realized how small it was until he arrived. could see a few blatant openings through all the green. A fairly big town surrounded by smaller villages and separate houses or farms. A dense forest covering about two-thirds of the planet. If the ship had crashed anywhere in there, it was most definitely torn to shreds. Though, that wasn’t something Locus wanted to think about.

-

Three days prior, a phone call woke Locus up in the night. An unknown caller which instinctively made him hesitate; but he took a chance and answered.

“Hello?-” Locus grumbled out the words, his voice quiet and tired, making it somewhat obvious he had just woken up.

“Hi! Oh man, okay, I hope I have the right number-” The modulated voice rang through the other line, directly opposing Locus’ gruff tone. “Is… Samuel Ortez there? Or, you know, are you Samuel Ortez?”

The name caught Locus off guard, his tiredness immediately seeming to drain from his body. He furrowed his brows in confusion, standing up straighter, more alert. Wide awake.

He paused, taking in a slow breath before he spoke; “... Why? Who’s asking?”

“Well, I mean, I am. I hope I’m not bothering you but, my family and I came across this ship and we retrieved a bag… which just so happened to contain a wallet with your name in it. Or, maybe not your name.” The caller sounded nervous in a way, harmless.

Locus wasn’t one to blindly trust someone. However, the statement about the ship caught his attention, bringing back something he had tried so hard to leave alone.

“Where are you now? Can I come retrieve my things and examine the ship?” He was direct with words, almost demanding an answer now.

“Well… I’m on a little planet called Hulvion, I run the general store here in the city. If you stop by, I can bring you to the ship. It’s not too far-”

They droned on, but that’s where Locus stopped listening, maybe he even hung up. His mind elsewhere, focused on getting to that planet, finding that ship. Finding his partner.

Finding any and all information he could about the planet didn’t take him too long. He considered himself lucky that he found anything at all. And what he found was not much more than basic history, a few farmers migrating from their planet they felt was evolving far too fast. There was one major settlement called Upra, which seemed to be about as modern as it got. Only one hospital was on record, and he found nothing on his partner or any mysterious appearances, which didn’t leave Locus with too much hope. Hope wasn’t something he had too much of when it came to this. He told himself months ago that, realistically, Felix was gone and in turn, gave up with nothing to show for the three years he had devoted strictly to looking for him. But accepting the facts didn't make anything better. It didn’t make losing two partners within 6 months any easier.

Locus prepared for the trip for two days, leaving on the third. He figured that his mixed emotions could only be cured by going to see the ship, whether or not he knew if he wanted to. It was natural to fear the worst, especially after nothing for so long. No matter how badly he wished for a clue to something, he still believed he would just be coming home with more constant reminders of what used to be.

The planet was just as small as promised, smaller now that he was up close and personal. With how rural the place had claimed to be, the small city seemed to be perfectly set up for people to come and go. Something of a pit stop.

After landing the ship, Locus made his way to the store, soon meeting the person behind the voice on the phone. They were short, though who wasn’t compared to Locus. At first, they seemed nervous, but soon lead Locus to the crashed ship, as promised.

He could see how damaged the ship was from a mile away, the numerous broken trees around the area doing a number on the ship before it landed. The thing was small anyway, holding one, maybe two people? An escape pod. Something set aside for someone who wanted a way out in case things went south.

Locus stepped to the door, now broken and bent, only open a crack. Just enough for someone to get their hand in to retrieve a bag; the leather bag with his and Felix’s wallets he now had clutched in his hand. He hadn’t bothered to look at what was in it yet, though the person who brought him here (who he now learned was a younger man named Alex) said it was just the wallets, a knife and some ammo.

Glancing up into the trees, Locus squinted at the sunlight that came through the leaves in little strings, casting an almost whimsical look to the forest. The large clearing the ship had made on impact was growing back, the ship slowly blending into nature. In years to come, nobody would even know it was here. _A tomb of sorts._

He shivered at the thought, taking a deep breath in before he would allow it to bother him. But he couldn’t put it off forever.

_You’re going to open the door, and Felix will be dead, rotting,_

_No. Don’t think like that._

It was only a matter of time. Locus couldn’t take it any longer. Placing a hand on the door Locus moved to open it, surprised when it didn’t budge. His mouth turned down in a firm frown, a grunt of frustration leaving him as he used both hands to pry the broken door open.

The scene he was faced with was not the devastating horror he had created in his mind; nor was it any sort of relief. There was no body, no decomposing corpse, no Felix. Instead, there was blood. A small pool of blood on the floor, bloody handprints on the walls, smudges here and there. _Too much blood for someone to make it out on their own._

He climbed through the door leading to the small cockpit, finding the windshield shattered, broken glass accompanying more blood on the seat and controls. Still no sign of his partner.

The whole ship was a mess, to say the least, and it didn’t give Locus any answers. _Except the underlying fact that losing this much blood was lethal._

_Stop thinking like that._

Locus scanned the space, something catching his eye almost immediately; an orange bandana. Felix’s orange bandana. It had been so long since he had seen anything from his partner that it caught him off guard. And there he stood for a moment like a deer caught in headlights. But he couldn’t let it get to him. He wouldn’t let it get to him.

Taking in a deep breath, Locus picked it up, staring at the square of fabric as if it would tell him everything he wanted to know. Like it would answer all of his questions for him. All it seemed to do was bring memories to Locus’ mind. The first particular one being his partner’s habit of losing a bandanna almost every mission.

A blinking green light snapped him out of the spiral of memories. Below it, was a button labeled ‘Audio Log’.

He stared at the button, the constant blinking of the light almost hypnotic. He already had enough to show that his partner was on the ship. That much wasn’t hard to tell. But what was on that log could tell him so many things. Some, he wasn’t entirely sure he wanted the answers to.

Locus placed a finger on the button, closing his eyes with a quiet sigh before he pressed down on it, waiting for what was to come.

-

The voice of a woman, an AI, broke the static before the recording began.

“Welcome to your escape pod, please assign a destination.”

There was no reply to the machine, just silence. Had Felix lost consciousness before the recording began?

“Please assign your desired destination.”

More silence followed. The AI waited a bit longer before it tried again.

“Please, as-”

“Just give _UP_ already!” Felix’s voice, though weak and shaky, still barked back at the machine. He was still trying to keep up his normal intensity. But even though he couldn’t see him, Locus could tell that he wasn’t in the best shape.

“I need you to specify where…”

“Shut up or I will _make you_ shut up.”

Once again, Felix’s voice rang through loud and clear, the mic seeming to pick up every last ounce of anger and annoyance in his voice. Maybe even picking up the hint of sadness that bled through his tone. Something Locus instantly picked up on.

The AI seemed to get the hint the second time around, and for a long while, there was silence. Only the sound of the ships engine and Felix’s sighs of frustration. He could be heard messing with a few of the controls, his impatience becoming clear when he tapped his fingers faster and faster. He could hear his breathing in the silence, and Locus feared it was heavy and slow due to whatever wounds his partner had been left with. It didn’t sound like he was trying to care for himself either. It didn’t sound like he was doing much of anything. Felix and quiet didn’t mix. In fact, Locus couldn’t recall a time when he hadn’t talked for this long.

But apparently, it became too quiet for him to stand.

“He…”

Felix huffed, his voice almost seeming to break. Clearing his throat, he tried again.

“...I really have to take this shitty ship to a whole other planet because he fucking died on this stupid mission.”

“Please specify the ‘other planet’ you desire to-“

“ _Fuck off!_ ” He hissed, following up with a growl that slowly formed in the back of his throat until he screamed in a fit of rage. A few loud thuds broke the small break of silence following the scream, and another loud growl following that.

Then, silence.

“...Please specify your destination”

All he could manage this time was a groan. Although Locus couldn’t see what his partner was doing, he almost knew that Felix was most likely holding his head in his hands, running his fingers through his hair. It was like he could feel the rage radiating off his partner, while still feeling like they were so far away.

After a few deep breaths, he spoke once again.

“Anywhere but this fucking city. Anywhere but this fucking planet.”

“Please specify your-“

“I don’t FUCKING KNOW-“

His tone changed as he snapped back to the machine as if it didn’t belong to him. Felix sounding upset wasn’t foreign to Locus, but anger always accompanied it. But the anger seeped out of his words, slowly becoming less and less. It was clear he had to put all of his effort into keeping his composure.

“I WANT YOU TO TAKE ME AWAY FROM HERE, AWAY FROM THESE ASSHOLES, AWAY FROM LOCUS’ DEAD FUCKING BODY. GET ME OUT OF HERE.”

His voice broke on the last word, the beginning of a sob leaving the back of his throat. He did catch it; he was certain if he hadn’t, he would’ve broken down.

A quiet tone came from the AI, causing his partner’s heavy breathing to break again, only seeming to set Felix off again. He was ready to throw another fit, Locus knew, but the AI cut him off before he could do anything.

“Voice recognition has been denied. The system will shut down shortly.”

“ _What?_ ”

He gave a quick, sharp inhale as he sat up, immediately clicking, scrambling for something to work, something to override the system. Anything at all.

“Oh, come on, you piece of shit.”

“System shutdown in ten, nine, eight,”

“You piece of shit, just LISTEN TO ME!”

“Seven, six,”

“STOP.”

“Five,”

“No, no, I,”

“Four, three, two,”

“I can’t-,”

“One.”

The audio reverted to static, and then it was over.

-

Locus sat quietly, watching as the light still blinked on, almost as if it was mocking him. He took a few minutes to try to comprehend what he had just heard, but it was too much for him. Hearing Felix after so long; hearing him genuinely upset; the fact that he believed Locus was dead. _And died thinking he was dead._

There was nothing left to see in the ship. Locus had checked every single nook and cranny that he could find. He checked around the outside with nothing left to show. The only thing he could come up with for how his partner, dead or alive, had left the ship was through an opening in the top of the ship. The door was too hard for Locus to open, and he wasn’t just any normal person; Nor was he bleeding to death.

With the ship checked thoroughly, Locus looked around the area and see if he could find anything. He again expected that if he found anything, it would not be good. Although, it had been a few years and knew the more realistic thought would have been to know he wouldn’t find a single thing.

From what he could tell from the inside of the ship, when he made it out, it couldn’t have been too pleasant. The most probable thing to have happened would be that his partner had somehow got himself out of the ship, managed to get as far as he could through the woods until he collapsed, and eventually died. Left to decompose or be found, unknown. _Felix would have hated that._

But there were several problems with that. One being that nobody had reported a single thing. There was no body, no record of anyone being found at all. The local hospital barely had any patients in the past five years, and an undocumented person was not one. Locus was still lost, stumped. He had no lead or clues, which was the reasoning behind why he tried to let this go in the first place. Feeling frustrated, and a bit defeated, he made his way back to the ship.

For a while, he sat outside. The inside made his skin crawl but he couldn’t seem to bring himself to leave what could be the last piece of Felix. It was dark before he made his way back to the town to head home. He thanked the person who called him, making sure there wasn’t any extra information Locus hadn’t been told, and then he left.

-

The next few months, Locus was back to keeping himself up, late nights where he would try to find Felix with absolutely no idea where to start. He found himself travelling back to the planet, making his way around everything on it and still, nothing. To save his sanity, he had to give up. Felix was either gone, or really didn’t want to be found.

It was only a matter of time before he would have ran out of money anyway. Which meant all that he really could do was to continue on. As if the phone call never happened; as if it had always just been Locus.

Everyone in his life, gone. _Even Isaac._

At first, Locus looked for smaller things to do, sticking to some things he had done before the call interrupted his life, eventually leading into the bigger jobs he preferred. But with no help, it limited him to what he could do. Everything usually ran smoothly, as Locus had always wanted it to, but he often felt like something was missing. He didn’t have Felix right by his side; he didn’t have to pester someone or keep them in check. In a way, he missed it.

While searching for jobs, Locus often came across bigger organizations; and as one-man jobs were thinning out, he had no choice but to actually look into them. As much as the idea repelled him, he eventually found a few that could possibly work out once he opened himself up to the idea of relocation to another planet.

That’s when one particular company caught his attention, the reason behind it being the name ‘Gates’. One click and Locus was there, unable to help the curiosity burning inside him like a match. The job looked fairly simple, something he would be more than qualified for. He would have no problem with living undetected, seeing as the planet it was organized on was known to be overpopulated, and the actual city being the largest one there.

It was impossible for his mind not to immediately go to his partner. The questions flooded his thoughts, but after further inspection, he realized that the company was very professional, well secured and set up. Something he ultimately believed his partner was not capable of on that level. Aside from that, anyone wouldn’t have been able to build something like this in less than five years, let alone his impatient, easily aggravated partner. Felix was good with people, but Locus knew he wasn’t that good… right?

The name ‘Isaac’ immediately stuck out and Locus froze, staring at the screen. He could feel his heart getting faster, his chest tightening with every breath. After a deep breath, he continued on, looking for more information. His partner couldn't be the only one in the universe with that name, but even after telling himself that over and over, it still didn’t seem to change the fact that he was finding it harder and harder to catch his breath. What if this was it?

All it would take was one call.

For hours, Locus contemplated the call. He spent the minutes leading up to dialing the number pacing back and forth throughout his office, his heart beginning to race. The more nervous he became, the more he resented it, letting out angry huffs when he would find himself in a panic. Why was this such a big deal?

Without thinking, he started the call, holding the phone up to his ear before he really knew what he was doing. It rang a few times, then a woman’s voice broke the silence.

“Hello, this is Centric Publishing, how may I direct your call?”

Locus stayed silent for a moment, more thoughts blocking his train of thought. _Was it a fake number? Was this all made up? Was someone playing a sick joke?_

“... I would like to speak to your provider… Isaac Gates?” He forced the words from his mouth, finding his voice the slightest bit shaky.

_This is ridiculous._

“May I have a name?”

“Locus.”

She had gone silent after hearing his response, leaving him wondering if she had hung up. “Locus? Is that what you said?” There was a hint of urgency to her tone, very subtle, but enough for him to pick up on.

“Yes, Locus.”

"Just Locus?"

"Correct."

“... Please state your business.” And just as soon as the urgency was there, it was gone.

“Your provider, your boss, whatever he may be, is his name Isaac Gates? I wish to speak with-”

“Please hold on just one moment.”

Locus wasn’t too thrilled about being cut off. Nor did he appreciate the silence that remained when he was put on hold, it gave his mind too much space to think. He supposed, all he really could do was wait, and there wasn’t much else to do. He found himself sitting down, not really remembering how and when he had gotten to the living room of his small apartment, but there he was.

She broke the silence again after a minute or so; “Mr. Gates is a bit busy at the moment, though I notified him and he would rather talk face to face. As soon as possible.”

Locus couldn’t even get a word in before she continued.

“We will see you tomorrow at noon. Apologies beforehand if Mr. Gates is late, he really is on a tight schedule… We look forward to seeing you, Mr. Ortez”

______________________________________And the line went dead._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


	2. FELIX

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Memories haunting Felix in his dreams makes his new life difficult as is, but when a familiar name is brought up again, it really turns things around.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (PRE-CHORUS AU)

 

 Felix’s eyes snapped open as he heard a switch, the lights turning on in the room. For a moment, it was blinding white, nothing. He didn’t know where he was, nor did he really know how long he had been awake for. Had he just regained consciousness?; or had he been sitting in silence, completely unaware? He was having a hard time grasping anything around him. The thoughts in his head ran rampant, wild; nothing made sense. The surrounding room was blinding white, a blank nothingness on all angles. Almost as if there were no walls, no floor, no ceiling, nothing. _Or had he even raised his head to look?_

 The pain radiating through his body combined with the light that gave him a headache was enough to leave him exhausted. Along with that, whatever had knocked him out in the first place couldn’t have been pleasant. His whole body ached, showing no sign of improving anytime soon. His legs were numb, along with the right side of his face, but he couldn’t be bothered to care. It was all enough to make him feel as though he may lose consciousness again. _To be honest, it sounded like a wonderful idea._ He could feel the darkness closing in on his mind, pulling him back to sleep, numbing the pain all over his body to a dull throb. He could live with this peace. It was calm again; calm until one thought protruded to the front of his mind.

  _Where’s Locus?_

 Immediately, he was back, his head lifting in one swift motion, his regret being clear in a wince, then a groan. Too many thoughts and feelings pushed their way through, most involving his partner. It filled part of him with concern, but a voice begged him to sleep. To _relax. This mission was a shit-show, and he deserved to relax._

 Felix moved to slowly raise his head, as to not make his headache worse, but after someone sitting across from he returned his glance, he flinched away, trying to reach for one of his knives, a gun, something. Though he didn’t get to far with the restraints around his wrists and ankles, which kept him stuck in the chair he was in. Adrenaline hit first, and the pain would not follow until he realized, the person sitting across from him was none other than himself. A reflection. _How stupid did he look right now?_

 The wall that sat before him was a mirror, allowing him to see the whole room without craning his neck. He spotted two men in the corner, standing next to the door. They were both dressed in black suits, sunglasses hiding their eyes; tall, stocky, generic. Not a single unique thing about either one.

He soon brought his attention back to his reflection, seeing now why it had shocked him before. His face was left a bruised and bloodied mess but what actually concerned him was how pathetic he seemed. His shoulders hunched over, his body shaking. He looked weak, like a kicked puppy.

  _Jesus christ, Isaac, get yourself together._

 Instantly, he sat up straighter, despite it revealing a lot more pain and injuries than he was previously aware of. He opened his mouth, planning to say something, but all that came out was a strained groan he wasn’t able to hold back. From what he remembered, these guys had done quite a bit of damage. Though he definitely didn’t expect to be feeling like this, especially so fast. It couldn’t have been more than an hour since he had first lost consciousness, right?

 He knew that the fools at the door had beat on him pretty hard before they caught on that Felix wasn’t going to give them anything. In fact, Felix just played along as he did. They would hit him, kick him, do whatever they felt was sufficient. But they never got the response they were looking for from Felix. They never got the answers they were looking for. Eventually, they had gotten sick of him, and decided to knock him out.

 “You know, you guys are _great_ at kicking the shit out of people who can’t fight back.” He paused, having to let his body take a moment to catch his breath.

 It didn’t come as a surprise when Felix received no answer.

 “So… how long am I getting the silent treatment for?” He croaked out, the casual taunt alone taking more energy than he would have hoped. Talking, thinking, forming sentences took all the concentration he could muster.  

 His commentary didn’t continue much after that. The bit he had spoken took everything his lungs had, forcing him to focus on his breathing more than anything else. Even still, he was unable to control it, his chest aching with every heavy breath. Felix knew his limits, and that he wouldn’t be able to handle much more if the idiots got bored and started to beat on him again.

  _How the hell was he going to get himself out of this one?_ The thought raced through his mind, Felix trying to make sense of everything. _Where had he and Locus gotten separated in the first place?_ But no matter how hard he tried to remember, nothing came back, and he assumed that it was likely he had a concussion. Hell, he doubted he would be able to stand on his own. There was no clear way out of this, and Felix’s spiral of panic (and possibly the head injury) was blocking anything creative from making an appearance. There wasn’t anything else to do but wait and try to think. A few plausible ideas came to mind, ideas that would have worked if he were physically able to do more than breathe.

 It felt like hours before there was anything; the first thing being the mirror flickering in front of him. A mirror flickering? _Was he seeing this right?_ Felix forced his tired eyes to glance back up, waiting to see if he was just crazy, or if what he had seen actually happened. For a few minutes he stared at his reflection, watching his shoulders move as he took in slow, deep breaths. Then, it flickered again, this time Felix noticed silhouette of someone sitting across from him in another room. _A two way mirror?_

 After another flicker or two, the mirror changed, the room on the other side on full display, also showing the other person he had spotted. It took a moment for Felix to process this, but his eyes widened as soon as he recognized who it was.

 His partner sat just beyond the wall, looking to be in worse shape than he was. Felix watched, fear coming over him faster than he could hide it. Locus didn’t seem to move, barely breathing, definitely unconscious. _Beaten to a damn pulp_ **_._ **

 Felix was silent, his mind racing, his hands trembling with anger. Before he could get a word out, one guard behind him finally spoke.

“Are you willing to—”

 “Who the fuck do you think you are?”  Felix turned towards the _asshole_ that had just spoke to him, cutting him off with a sharp hiss. “If you lay another fucking finger on him, I’ll kill you.”

 “We were hoping this would persuade you to give us any information you’re withholding.” The guard slowly made his way across the room, stopping as soon as he was behind Felix.  “Tell us what,”

 “You aren’t getting jack _shit_ from me. I swear I’m going to—”

 “I wouldn’t recommend getting too pushy, _Mr. Gates._ ” The words came from a speaker at the corner of the room, interrupting Felix’s threat. He recognized the voice, his mind reaching for a name or face to match, only to draw a blank.

 “... And what do you think you’re going to do about it?” Felix had turned his glare to the speaker, noticing the camera that was pointed right at him beside it. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest, finding it hard to focus with the anger building up inside him. He was sick of their bluff and their stupid games. “How about you let me loose and stop hiding so we can really see—”

 “You are a _fool._ You try to taunt me.” There was a pause, then movement from the other room.

 Felix’s eyes darted back to watch, the color draining from his face as he watched one guard slowly lift a gun to the side of his partner's head.  He was speechless, his chest tightening as he attempted to take in a breath. He had to focus to hide the fear.

 “Not so bold now, are we?”

 “I…” _Just say something._ He _knew_ they were full of _shit_ , so why couldn’t he just stall a little longer? Why couldn’t he speak or move, or even blink.

 “What was that?” The smug tone from the speaker carried throughout the room, sounding so distant to him now. All he could grasp was Locus. Locus and the gun.

 “Let us make a _deal, Isaac_ . You can make this all go away, you know?” The man’s tone had shifted now, as if he was _speaking to a child_.

 “Fuck _you—”_

A gunshot from the room across from him was all it took to wipe the scowl clean off his face, his eyes closing as he flinched. But he saw the blood, he saw everything. 

_They killed his partner._

—

The gunshot always startled him awake, his breath catching in the back of his throat. It took a few seconds before he realized he wasn’t there anymore. _That happened years ago._

_It was just a dream. A nightmare._

Felix hadn’t meant to fall asleep to begin with, he never did. It wasn’t often he found himself sleeping lately. _Sleep isn’t a necessity,_ and his body had grown to learn that over several years. Obviously, there were countless times when his body would just give in, or he would drink to much and have no choice but to sleep. This time, it was the latter.

 At least ten minutes had gone by before he rolled over to check the time. _5:04 PM. When the hell did I fall asleep?_ The last time he recalled looking at the time it was nearly four in the morning, but he couldn’t remember when he had actually gone to bed. He turned to his right, glancing out at the city through the wall made entirely of glass. It was just getting dark, the sun setting behind the tall buildings.

 Soon he forced  himself to sit up in bed, moving to get up now. Inevitably, his attention was drawn to his reflection in the mirror, the dream, _the memory_ still fresh in his mind. He could still see Locus on the other side, _the gun slowly moving to his head. He knew it was coming; he knew Locus was already gone. It was too late. No amount of talking could stop it, he couldn’t move or breathe—_

 Felix jumped up from the bed, his head falling into his hands as he rubbed his face. He let out a groan of sorts, moving to run his fingers through his hair and tug at it in frustration. _Five years_. It had been five years since that day. But it still haunted him, still filled his dreams and his thoughts. It still controlled his life, and Felix couldn’t figure out how to gain his control back.

 He settled for a quick shower and a change of clothes before he began to prepare for the night ahead. Felix had a big job planned, more for his satisfaction than anything, but really, _who had to know that._ He simply disguised it as a regular heist. Taking what they needed. When really, Felix was out for blood.

 He had built his own little empire from the bottom. After the accident he relocated to a planet where nobody had seen his face, nobody knew his name; Felix had nothing. But in five years, he pulled together a fully functional team of soldiers, all capable of getting the job done. He found a building to work out of, cars, weapons, ammo. Felix was living the life he had dreamed of. Though there was always a hole that couldn’t be filled. A bittersweet success.

 Rummaging through his apartment is what took the most time. The night prior, he had misplaced his keys and his wallet, but after retrieving them, he was on his way to his first stop of the night: the Centric Publishing office building.

 From the outside, it look like much; nothing more than an office building, how it was intended to be. It wasn’t long before Felix was heading inside, strolling up to the front desk.

“Good evening, Sir.” The greeting came from a small woman at the front desk who gave Felix nothing more than a glance before continuing to work on her laptop.

 “Any new messages?” He stopped, leaning against the counter that sat above the the desk.

 “Nothing except a few calls from the crew downstairs. They’re waiting to go over everything. I did try to call you but—”

“Yeah, yeah, tell them I’ll be down.” Felix was gone before she could get much of a response, heading for the door that lead to the basement. He was met with a door after several sets of stairs, typing in the code 56278 before he stepped inside. Another secured door beyond that brought him to an elevator, and soon he arrived in a large room where seven or so people were at work; checking guns, looking over maps, gathering ammo. They were none other than the crew Felix had gathered. The best of the best, according to him.

The next few hours were spent going over the plans they had in place, each person making sure they had the weapons they needed. The plan was to get in and out, retrieve the files they were supposed to get without making too much of a mess. Yet Felix was well known for missions getting out of hand. Keeping things clean didn’t exactly come natural for him. He had even lost a few crew members who had just gotten fed up with the sporadic disorder that would come out of nowhere more often than not. And the ones who had stuck with him either didn’t mind it, or couldn’t turn down how well this job payed.

The initial plan was to try and keep things neat and tidy; to wrap this one up in a little bow, collect the pay and move on. _But sometimes things just don’t like to go as planned._

Everything was finalized and set and as soon as it was dark, they headed out.

 It took about thirty minutes to arrive at the location, and another thirty to take down the cameras outside of the building. After sending in two men to take down the first level of security, along with a few of the cameras inside, Felix and three others followed.

The first few sections were easy. Though as they went on, each door became more secure. Every floor contained more guards and more cameras than the last. They had a few close calls, but besides those, the mission was running rather smoothly. Felix believed it was a little too good to be true, but only time would tell.

 They had been through six sections so far; taking them a little over an hour to get to this point. They sacrificed time for how precise they were being, which drove Felix insane. Reminding himself to be patient was a skill he was forced to learn with how he now operated.

 Through the cameras on the next floor, it was obvious they had moved guards to wait for them. They knew Felix and his crew were in the building, but with the obvious fact that no alarms had gone off, they clearly underestimated his team. All they could do was get the door opened and try to take out the guards waiting for them.

 They lined up, Felix on one side of the door with one of the mercenaries, three on the other side. One stood at the door, working on the lock. It was only a minute before she gave Felix a nod and stepped back, getting ready to open the door.

 After this, their presence would likely be known. They would have to work faster now.

 “On my count-” Felix spoke through his earpiece, keeping his voice low; just enough for the device to pick it up and transmit it to the others. “Three… Two…”

 There was a faint buzz coming from the watch on his wrist, the screen lighting up as it did so. The screen flashed, the call labeled: Sarah Toi: URGENT.

  _Of course it was urgent._

 He contemplated ignoring it and continuing on; but he knew she wouldn’t call him in the middle of a mission if it wasn’t actually important.

 With a silent huff, Felix lowered his gun and moved from his position. “I’ll be right back. Don’t move.”

As soon as he rounded the corner, hoping he was out of hearing range, he answered the call.

“What do you want?” As expected, he didn’t sound too happy. The hiss in his voice was something Sarah knew all too well. It was often how he would sound while resisting the urge to lash out at his assistant.

“Sir, I’m sorry but it’s important-”

“I assumes that much, seeing as you’re calling me when we’re _right in the middle of something here!_ ” he spat out the reply, the beginning of a growl forming in the back of his throat.

“I received a call, someone named… Locus would like to speak with you.” She sounded hesitant, maybe even a bit scared. She had felt with Felix long enough to not be scared of _him_ , but she knew the significance of that name. Her fear was for how her boss would react.

 Felix went silent, the name caught him off guard. _Why would she recognize that name?_ He recalled a small conversation where his former partner may have come up, but nothing major. _Granted, he had been drinking. So how much had he really told her?_

“Sir-” She spoke again, afraid he had hung up.

 “And you felt this was worth interrupting me because...?” The name caused a bit of a shock, but he couldn’t expect it to only belong to _Sam._ Thousands of people could go by that name. Maybe there are hundreds of idiots who name themselves after their armor.

Sarah sighed softly, taking a moment to choose her words carefully.

“You can pretend it means nothing to you, or you can accept that you may have told me too much at one point in time, Mr. Gates.”

 Again, he was taken aback, his mind running wild with thoughts. _What did I tell her? When? Why?_

“I want to hear him. Play me something he said.”

 “Yes sir, one moment.” Silence followed for a few moments. Felix waited, finding it hard to stay calm as he did. He was impatient, angry. Though he felt as if he had no reason to be. As if there was any chance it was _him._ His partner was dead, and he had watched it happen. But sure enough, seconds later, the voice rang through.

‘... I would like to speak to your provider… Isaac Gates?’ There it was; Locus’ voice. _Or however this idiot replicated his partner’s voice._ He listened, trying to swallow the lump that seemed to form in the back of his throat. He gave a small cough, then taking a deep breath before he would speak.

“That’s enough, Sarah…”

“What… What would you like me to do, sir?”

He gave himself a second to think, to process what he had just heard. He had no idea how to react or how to feel, all he knew was that he was furious.

“I want you to… set up a meeting with him. I want to see who he is. As soon as he arrives, I want his weapons and I want two men on him at all times. If this idiot is dumb enough to mess with me and show up, he’s not getting out of it.” Felix was direct, his words sharp and precise, any emotion drained from the orders he practically barked out. Before long, he heard Sarah speak once again.

“Tomorrow?”

“If I could schedule it for right now, I would.”

“Is it…” She paused, debating what she wanted to say. “Is it him?”

“I doubt it. Some asshole who’s posing as Samuel fucking Ortez just to mess with me.” Felix paused, laughing now, driving himself into disbelief before he would even consider someone he watched _die_ right in front of him just show up out of nowhere.

“Wouldn’t he shit himself if you called him Ortez. I doubt this copycat even knows that’s his name.”

“Alright, Sir, I’ll tell him when you’d like to meet him.” The line clicked, signaling that Sarah had opened it back up to their _lovely_ new friend.

“Mr. Gates is a bit busy at the moment, though I notified him and he would rather talk in person.” She gave no room for a response before continuing. “We will see you tomorrow at noon. Apologies beforehand if Mr. Gates is late, he really is on a busy schedule…… We look forward to seeing you, Mr. Ortez.”

She then hung up, leaving Felix in silence.

He tried to shake the thought and everything that had just happened. He moved back to the task at hand, returning to his crew with a newfound confidence. He strolled up to the door, his lips curled in a nasty smirk.  

“Let’s get this show on the road, shall we?”

The soldiers readjusted, a few of them not seeming too thrilled with Felix’s change of tone. Before he had left to take the call, he seemed to be all business. Now Felix seemed to be in a hurry.

He turned to glance at both groups of soldiers, a newfound rage boiling in his eyes. With one swift motion of his hand, he started to open the door. And the second it was, the room erupted into chaos.

_What a clean mission this would be._

  


**\---**

 

His eyelids felt heavy, and for the first few moments, Felix contemplated just not opening his eyes at all. Those moments turned into minutes, falling in and out of consciousness. Not enough to feel anything yet, not enough to remember much more than his name. The last thing he remembered was the ship, although it wasn’t his ship. Where was he going again?

He was warm, and felt generally safe for the time being, though he had no idea why he may have felt in danger.

_Why wouldn’t I feel safe? I’m always safe._

Yet, the more he pondered the question, the more bothered he was by it. He tired to cling to the warmth and the safety until eventually, it came crashing down with consciousness. He started to remember why he wouldn’t be safe.

_The ship crashed, am I dead?_

He was now trying to wake himself up, his eyes still wanting to stay closed. So he tried to move, which just sent any good feeling away with a wave of pain.

_Fantastic._

Though it did feel like he was on a bed, somewhere soft. Probably about as comfortable as he’ll get in whatever condition he was in.

Felix started to shift around, attempting to feel out how bad his injuries were. Moving his torso is what left him in the most pain, leaving him unable to hold back a groan. He again tried to move, freezing when he heard something, a person, move near him. He had heard breathing and a step back away from him.

So he wasn’t alone.

Now it seemed like he had to open his eyes. Only now, he wasn’t sure if he could. It took a lot of what he had left to open them just enough to see the dim orange light from the window seeping into the room. One more attempt and he managed to get his left eye open a bit wider, soon discovering the other was nearly swollen shut.

Felix waited for his eyes to adjust a bit more before turning his head to finally see whoever the hell was next to him. To his surprise, it was a very small child. He didn’t have much experience with kids, he guessed he was maybe 5 or 6 years old?

 The two stared at each other in silence before Felix decided to break the ice.

“...’fuck are you looking at?” His voice came across a little weaker than he had intended, leaving him clearing his throat with a few dry coughs.

“You.” The child's reply was simple, his head tilting as he looked at Felix.

“So we’re playing this game then.” Felix rolled his eyes, not ready for the jolt of pain it resulted in, making the headache he hadn’t even realized he had much worse.

 “You threw up.” The child furrowed his brows, hesitantly taking a step back towards the bed.

“When was that?” Felix huffed as he attempted to prop himself up and get a better look at the child. A better look at his surroundings as a whole, really. But it took too much out of him. He tried until nausea and exhaustion took over, having no choice but to relax after that.

“Not yesterday but before that. The day before…. You sleep a lot.”

 Felix sighed, ignoring the child as he let his eyes close. He knew he wouldn’t be awake for much longer and that he had no control over it. _Whatever happened in the ship couldn’t have been good._ Soon, unconsciousness taking over once again.

The next time he woke up, it was dark. The little boy was gone now, a chair sitting where he had been standing. Felix attempted to prop himself up as his eyes ( _well, more like eye until the other healed)_ adjusted to the darkness. He could feel something was off as his body tried to move; as if his legs were numb.

 “If you move too fast, the stitches will tear.”

The voice came from the door, making Felix jump and forget about lifting the blanket from himself. All of his attention was brought to the woman who entered the room, attempting to turn his face in  a defensive scowl. But to her, he just looked scared.

“Don’t worry, I’m just here to help. How are you feeling?” She sat in the chair, starting to dig through something of a medical kit.

“I’m… fine.” Though his look of concern as she raised her arm to touch him told another story. He obviously wasn’t too thrilled with some stranger touching him, that much must have been obvious to her, as she hesitated, waiting for a small approving nod from Felix.

 He would’ve hated to know that he looked scared out of his goddamn mind. Luckily, it wasn’t brought up.

 She gently turned his head to scan over the injuries on his face, then helped him sit up so she could begin to properly take care of the rest of his wounds. Sitting up brought its own strange lightheadedness, something still feeling _extremely_ off. He moved to lift his own hands to his face, only for her to bring them down.

“Just… hang on, I’ll get you a mirror when I’m done so you don’t hurt yourself.”

 There really wasn’t much else to do now, was there?

 So there he sat, letting her clean the injuries he was left with. At first he tried to keep track of them all, only to lose count after a while; that and the small spikes of pain that caused him to flinch away from her would take over his mind for a moment every time around.

 The two of them were silent, Felix wondering how long it would take him to get out of this little mess and what he was going to do now that _Locus was gone._ The events of the previous day started to come back with the silence, giving him too much time to think. He was a bit relieved when she spoke to him.

“You’re Isaac, right?”

 The silence was gone, along with Felix’s train of thought. The name had spiked something inside of him, making him alert.

 “How did you know that?” The words spilled out, his voice holding a harshness that even surprised him.

 Though she was unphased, her hands still moving to clean and take care of his wounds. She had been careful and gentle. But it was obvious she didn’t like Felix snapping at her when she tugged a little _too_ hard while repairing stitches. And the smirk was undeniable as she heard him bite back a yelp.

“Well, you told me. When we found you, you were in pretty rough shape. Mumbling on about some planet and someone who died? Then I asked your name and you simply gave it to me.”

“Is that… all I said?” Felix couldn’t remember a single thing about what had happened after the crash, let alone _her_. Trying to do so just added on to the headache he was already battling.

“Well, you also told us not to report you or bring you to a hospital. Your exact words were ‘nobody can know I’m here.’  And, we did not report you, nobody knows you’re out here.”

“Nobody?”

“Not a soul.” She paused to meet his gaze, giving him a small smile, soon returning back to caring for him. “But I feel that a fair trade-off would be allowing us to know who it is we’re helping. How did you end up here?”

 “Well I don’t remember too much, honestly…”

 “You’re really going to play that with me? I mean, I’d let you, but then we would _definitely_ have to report you. How can we deal with a man with amnesia?” Once again, she looked up, her smile more of a smug grin this time.

_So this wasn’t going to be as easy as he hoped._

 “I’m a soldier… Well, was. I was a soldier. Now I do _other things_.”

“Other things?”

“For money. I’m a mercenary. Freelancer.”

“Do you kill people?”

“I… Yes, it’s a big part of the job.” He paused, taking in a deep breath. _If talking was always this exhausting, he’d be dead._ “But it’s… I know what you’re thinking, and I don’t want you to…”

“I’m not judging how you live. Just curious, Isaac.” She nodded as she finished wiping away the blood left from fixing some stitches, then she sat up. “I just trust that in turn, you don’t hurt me or my family. Your life for ours?”

Felix nodded, unsure of what to say. He was too tired at this point to think straight, the only words he managed to mumble out were a small; “Of course.”

And in return, she nodded, standing up to put some things back in her bag.

“I have to get more things for… the rest, don’t move until I return and help you.” Her tone became all too serious too fast for Felix’s liking. It wa strange, as if she was scared. How much worse could the rest of it really be? Really, all that Felix could feel now was the side of his face and a large wound on his side. Now that he thought about it, that's where she had stopped; a wound just above his waist. And it looked like she would have had plenty of supplies to clean up any other large gashes or wounds.

_What, did I break a leg or something?_

 He carefully sat up, taking the time alone to assess what was wrong, the sensation of something being _off_ returning. Finally, curiosity took over, and he pulled the blanket covering his legs off to the side. One glimpse, and all the air had left his lungs in a heavy, desperate wheeze. From his thigh to his knee, Felix’s right leg was wrapped tightly in bandages. _Though that was where it stopped._ Not only the bandages. There was nothing, his leg was missing, leaving him sitting in disbelief. He couldn’t look away, he couldn’t think, couldn’t hear or breathe.

_-_

 

Breathe, he couldn’t breathe as his eyes snapped open, Felix jerking up in bed as he gasped for air. His head buzzed with the panic from the dream, his eyes darting around the room as he calmed down and realized where he was; his apartment, in his bedroom.

_Just a dream, just a memory._

Events of the previous night returned as he slowly made his way out of bed. He was reminded first of the shot that had hit him in the shoulder; the pain hitting as he attempted to reach for his alarm clock on the nightstand. But after making his way to his bathroom, he saw that it had been all patched up; most likely his assistant’s doing. He paused at the mirror, making sure there were no other injuries he had forgotten about, though his eyes lingered around scars from older times.

The dream had gotten him thinking of the crash. His leg, which was now replaced with something of a bionic leg. He tried his hardest to keep it concealed and, to his knowledge, Sara was the only one who knew about it. The scars on his face definitely weren’t something he could hide. It still remained a mystery of how he got them, whether it was before he had gotten on the ship or when it had crashed. But those didn’t bother him half as bad. The jagged burns and cuts creeping across the right side of his face and chin had proved to be a bit of an intimidation tool. Regardless, they were still a constant reminder. Something that would never go away. _Locus._

_Locus?_

Felix heard the phone ring, cutting off his train of thought. Taking one last glance in the mirror, he turned away, making his way back to the nightstand to answer the phone.

He hadn’t even had time to get a word out before Sara’s voice carried through the phone.

“Mr. Gates, I’ve just been notified that Mr. Ortez is approaching the building-”

The words took a moment to register in his mind. _What the hell was she talking about?_ Though when everything did click into place, it hit like a train.

“He’s-... _Shit._ God _dammit.”_ Felix held back a groan, setting the phone to speaker before hurrying to pick something to wear and get dressed. “Just give me a _second-..._ have someone bring him to my office-”

 “Alright, Sir… I just sent someone out now.”

He settled for a white dress shirt, black pants. Though he was a bit restricted because of his shoulder; So the next few minutes were spent rushing around, Felix trying to make himself look presentable. He wasn’t exactly in the best shape after the mission the night before, and it wasn’t just his shoulder.

It was past noon by the time Felix made it out of his apartment. Driving proved to be just as big of a challenge as getting ready was, leaving Felix in such a _lovely_ mood when he arrived. He hurried inside, up the elevator and through the halls, finally making it to his office.

 His hair was a mess, pieces now falling in his face, there was a portion of his shirt that remained untucked and after too much sleep, he now looked like he hadn’t slept in days. To put it simple, he was a mess. Though he couldn’t care less.

 He stood at the door, his hand clasped around the doorknob. Hesitantly, he began to open it, not knowing what to expect. And now that the time had actually come, he wasn’t entirely sure how to feel.

In the end, there were only two possibilities. He would either find his partner on the other side of the door, or somebody who thought it was a great idea to pretend to be him.

  _And if it were the latter, that man was as good as dead._

 


End file.
